


Priorities

by panthershabit



Category: Avengers: Endgame - Fandom, Avengers: Infinity War - Fandom, Black Panther (2018), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Eventual Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Infinity Stone Soul World (Marvel), Insecurity, M/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Pre-Slash, Sam Wilson Needs a Hug, Soul Stone (Marvel), Sweet T'Challa (Marvel), Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-14 13:52:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16914075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panthershabit/pseuds/panthershabit
Summary: It hurts Sam to see Bucky only care about Steve and not him. But then he finds someone who does care.





	Priorities

**Author's Note:**

> Sam/T'Challa hurt/comfort after the snap happens. Can be taken as Pre-Avengers: Endgame or during the events of the movie.

As soon as his eyes opened, the first thing T’Challa saw was orange. Everywhere. So much that he thought it was a symptom of blindness. But soon he began to lose the blurred sight and figures became clearer. He recognized one of the voices he heard yelling out. It was Bucky’s voice. As soon as he raised from the ground, he gasped in for a heavy breath and tried to comprehend the situation. This felt exactly like when he emerged from the Ancestral Plane but he felt a lot less safe. He identified the brown-haired man’s body as the one walking and opened his mouth. 

“Barnes? Is that you?” T’Challa asked. He coughed in between his words but the man seemed to be able to understand what was asked. 

“Yeah...T’Challa?” 

He walked over to the king and helped him up. If he was not so humble, he would have taken shame in allowing a former enemy to come to his assistance. But this man had changed in front of T’Challa and in doing so, his contribution to the battle of Wakanda and his development as a new man had convinced T’Challa that he was an ally. Once they were level T’Challa nodded to thank him and observed the area they were in. Again, all he could see was orange but now he saw trees that lit up in the same color as the environment. 

Bucky gazed at T’Challa with great concern and his eyes rested like they couldn’t remain open for much longer. He seemed tired, heartbroken. The area around his eyes was red as if his crying had just ceased but T’Challa was not sure if it was an appropriate time to ask him about the reason why. T’Challa shook his head to gather his bearings and remembered that his friend had asked him a question. After coughing again to catch his breath he tilted his head to face Bucky and furrowed a brow in a gesture of great confusion. 

“Yes, it is me. Do you have any idea what just happened?” 

Suddenly it began to dawn on him. As he turned his body to observe the area, he started to see familiar faces. He recognized the young woman, with magical powers from the airport. He also recognized the man who had asked him about whether or not he liked cats because of his panther habit. Soon he began to see other people who were complete strangers to him - a man in a leather brownish-orange jacket standing what looked like a small tree-person. A pair of individuals who looked like...aliens? He noticed and spotted the young boy who dressed in a spider outfit...Parker. Peter Parker. Tony spoke highly of him as they prepared for the airport battle – but he was just a boy. _He must have been so scared_ , T’Challa thought to himself. 

“I don’t know man...whatever it was, we’re dead. I felt myself just break away into the sky. Like, in front of Steve. What if he’s gone too?” He asked. T’Challa could not see Steve anywhere but he could see Bucky was in a bad way. 

“I am sure he is okay, he should be somewhere.” 

Bucky broke away from the conversation to look for Steve and T’Challa noticed the man – Wilson, throw his head down and sigh. He looked devastated but T’Challa could not work out why. The man sat against a tree with his back up against it and his head low, staring at the ground beneath him. 

“Hey...Cat-Man.” 

Sam’s voice was feeble as if he had given up. He sounded disappointed but there was not an obvious reason as to why. T’Challa decided to crouch to his level and sat on the ground next to Sam. Once they were level T’Challa turned his head to look at the former airman and gave him a sincere expression. 

“Hello, Wilson. What is it that is bothering you, you seem to be disturbed.” 

Sam scoffed and looked away. Who was this man to be asking him how he felt, what was bothering him? But he felt like his emotions were getting the best of him, so he would not take it out on T’Challa. His heart was in a good place and right now he needed some who would actually listen to him and pay attention. Maybe if he was lucky and played his cards right, this man would actually care about what he had to say. 

“I’m not a desperate man but...I wouldn’t mind a bit of recognition,” Sam complained. He sounded hurt and T’Challa frowned. 

“What do you mean by that?” 

His tone was genuine and Sam trusted him enough to speak his mind. 

“You see Bucky? He’s been calling out to Steve, asking about Steve and looking for Steve for like the past ten minutes. He hasn’t even seen me yet...” 

T’Challa understood what he meant. He knew how it felt to be ignored at times, especially after Nakia had rejected his advances to get the pair into a relationship. He also knew how it felt to want to talk to someone without being able to. Maybe if he had spent even two more seconds talking his cousin, he would still be alive. He knew how unwanted Erik had felt in the world and how there was no way he could take that back, but now he knew that Sam felt this way he would do everything in his power to help the man by his side. 

“I am sure he does not mean any offense. In a time like this, people do not think straight and will lose complete focus of what their priorities are.” 

They both stared at the orange skyline and it was almost beautiful. The scene was peaceful with barely any noise to be heard and the aesthetics were heavily satisfying.  

“Look, as much as I try, I ain’t gonna be Buck’s priority. He and Steve have something I will never be close to having. I just want them to act like I’m in the equation too.” 

Once he finished his sentence T’Challa sighed and looked at the man. The way he looked defeated almost hurt him and every second longer he spent staring into Sam’s gentle brown eyes, the more he felt for him. Sam noticed the twinkle in his eyes and let a small smirk out but it was more in a grateful gesture to show that he appreciated having his voice heard.  

“You don’t have to listen to my problems, I’m sure you’ve got worries of your own.” 

Now T’Challa was frustrated. Not at himself, or Sam, but at Steve and Bucky for making Sam feel like this. 

“I want to. I do not see anyone that I know here, so I can assume my sister and friends are alright. Tell me how you feel.” 

When T’Challa said those words, Sam lit up like the Christmas tree he put out himself. Because Steve and Bucky were too busy shopping for gifts together. There was feeling like a third wheel, and then there was feeling invisible. But now somebody was taking time to hear everything he had to say he couldn’t hide his smile. 

“You think we’ll be here forever? I don’t know how I feel about all of this, I didn’t even feel any pain. Just me...disappearing.” 

His words struck T’Challa because he had felt that exact same thing. One second, he was helping his general up, the next his was watching his body turn to ash a second before exactly faded to black. He could only imagine the amount of grief and shock his family and friends were going through right now.  

“Not forever. Just some time. I have faith in the others.” 

Sam grinned again and T’Challa spotted it the second he turned his head. Just like him, he had a gap-toothed smile which T’Challa found to be adorable. It matched his gentle personality and T’Challa wanted to see him happy all the time. 

“So do I. You know Steve won’t rest until he and Bucky are together again. Getting me back is basically just an add-on, a lucky bonus.” 

All T’Challa could do was smile at him and put an arm on his shoulder.  

“If it’s any consolation, I felt the exact feeling you felt. Not any form of pain but great confusion – I went to speak aloud and before I could say anything I was gone.” 

Hearing that made Sam feel better about everything because it meant someone could relate to him. He did also enjoy listening to the king talk, his voice was deep and calm in a way that he could listen to T’Challa forever. Suddenly everything didn’t seem so bad. 

“It definitely helps. So...what do you think will happen with Wakanda now, with you being the king?” 

His question seemed personal but Sam felt as if the curiosity was justified so he asked the question with no hesitation. It was only when T’Challa thought to himself of the outcome that he understood the severity of the situation. His sister would have to take on the biggest responsibility of her life – and at such a young age. She would have to rule Wakanda without a father or a brother, he couldn’t even account for their mother but he prayed to Bast in his mind she at least had a mother to guide her. What if she couldn’t do it? M’Baku would likely take the mantle of the king on but would he continue the legacy of the Black Panther? 

“There are many outcomes running through my mind. The burden my sister may have to take on, the grief of an entire country, even another tribe leader becoming the king of my father’s -  _my_  country.” 

Sam looked at him and admired the passion in his answer. He wanted to tell T’Challa all would be fine and that he had nothing to worry about but he couldn’t be sure of that. He did not want to lie to T’Challa but he wanted to comfort him, even if T’Challa still left a hand on his shoulder to make him feel better.  

“Well, you’re here now. We all are. If your friends and family are anything like you, I know they’ll get through this and get us back.” 

T’Challa needed to hear that and when he did the man smiled at Sam. He noticed Sam’s well-groomed facial hair as if it had been tended to recently. But the observations weren’t unrequited. Sam had been thinking about the curls on T’Challa’s head, and how he could probably never grow tired of looking at them. Perhaps he was desperate, or maybe Bucky had made him hungry for recognition. If that was the case, he did not want to end up using a good man like T’Challa as a rebound for his two best friends.  

“Thank you, Wilson. I really appreciate it.” 

They sat there for another five minutes, smiling at the sky and forgetting that in another world, they were dead. The former king crossed his legs and sighed again at the sight, feeling guilty for actually finding it stunning. The circumstances were negative but the imagery was outstanding. Soon they began to shuffle close to each other and found their shoulders brushing next to each other. 

“You never answered my question two years ago.” 

Sam said it so casually that T’Challa hadn’t even thought of the statement as something more than Sam remembered. Once it hit him the memories of him in the transfer car, devastated and heartbroken about his father’s death. The rage running through his body, the urge to attack everyone in the car and draw blood from someone now his ally. But now he thought back to Sam’s witty remark that broke the silence. It seemed inappropriate for Steve to try and interrupt him but his persistence for an answer garnered a response defending his question. 

“I like cats,” T’Challa admitted with a light-hearted chuckle. “It didn’t inspire the suit, that is simple but proud ancestry, but yes, the Black Panther likes cats.” 

Sam let out a laugh and looked at T’Challa again, whose nose was crinkled and whose eyes were closing because of his repetition of the same action. Witnessing a king – or at least a former one – who seemed so serious was very entertaining to Sam. Especially as he remained in his panther suit during the exchange of words. 

“I’m glad you could get that off your chest. When I asked it, I genuinely thought you were gonna claw my chest out.” 

T’Challa smirked and understood what Sam meant. His first experience with the Avengers certainly hosted a stoic personality from the then-prince of Wakanda. But he had learned so much since then. The tragedy of his cousin, Erik Stevens who once was N’Jadaka, a boy with fairytales in his dreams. How much revenge could consume his peers, how much it consumed him and the moment he knew vengeance was a fool’s game. 

Now he felt comfortable talking to Sam. He already did, but it felt like a conversation rather than the initial attempt to make him feel better.  

“Of course not. It slightly amused me, broke the ice if you will.” 

Their conversation was interrupted by Bucky walking over to them and smiling at Sam. T’Challa noticed the man’s returning smile but it wasn’t wide.  

“It’s good to see you, Sam. I can’t find Steve anywhere, he must be so worried.” 

He patted Sam on the shoulder and approached the man in the leather jacket who wore the expression of guilt on his face. It seemed they were trying to console him and both Sam and T’Challa wondered if his grief had something to do with where they were. Sam’s head drooped and T’Challa felt like he had to say what was on his mind. 

“Why do you worry so much about how Barnes feels? You should not waste your time on him.” 

Despite feeling out of line for saying it T’Challa had no regrets whatsoever. It was the truth. Sam seemed like too much of a good guy to be ignored and if Steve and Bucky would not pay him enough attention it was their loss.  

“Do you think?” 

The question made Sam think about everything. T’Challa was right, his friends wouldn’t show any greater concern for him than they already did so he should focus on someone who would.  

“Of course. You seem like great company.” 

The compliment made Sam’s cheeks heat up and he couldn’t help but look at T’Challa with appreciation in his relaxed brown eyes.  

“Thanks, T’Challa. You know, you’re not too bad yourself.” 

It felt good to hear that and T’Challa was more than grateful. Now they were smiling at each other with thoughts in their heads about what to say next.  

“Thank you, Wilson.” 

“Call me Sam.” 

“Thank you, Sam. I would not mind getting to know more about you. Your experiences, your life, just you. It is always good to keep communication intact when in a situation like this.” 

Sam let out a small chuckle and nudged T’Challa would a mischievous look on his face. 

“Is that the only reason? You sure you don’t want to call it a date?” Sam teased. His eyebrow raised and now T’Challa could feel warmth in his cheeks. He was more than aware that Sam could see through him but he didn’t care. 

“In order for it to be a date, you would have to take me somewhere...” 

His devilish smile invited Sam to play along with his games and he looked around with a thinking expression humoring T’Challa.  

“How about to that spot over there? What’d you say? Is it a date now?” Sam asked, pointing to an area with a distant tree in sight but sight but definitely far from everyone else. They could say anything else without anybody hearing, and if they had the right cover, do anything without anyone seeing a thing. 

“Okay. It’s a date,” T’Challa answered excitedly. 


End file.
